## Introduction and Disclaimer 🔼

- Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus
- Listening to Mandarin Audio While Using This Material
- Advantages of the Web Format
- Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Is a Good, Workable Writing System on Its Own
- Translation
- Proofreading
- Offline Viewing and Printing
- Disclaimer
- Analytics and Privacy
- Updates and Other Information

### Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus 🔼

This Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material provides rich information about Mandarin speech for discussing whether life was created, as represented by the text of the Mandarin Chinese Was Life Created? brochure. “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus” involves the following:

- This material is speech-first and mobile-first in design.
- The default Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text simply and directly represents Mandarin speech, which should be our main focus.—1 Co. 14:8–11.
- Tapping/clicking on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression reveals a “flashcard” next to it showing its English meaning, Simplified character(s), Traditional character(s) (if they’re different), etc. Tapping/clicking on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression hides the “flashcard”.
  - Try it on this: Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)
- More than one “flashcard” can be shown at a time.
- 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.

As the above-cited scripture helps us to understand, our purpose should not be just to get by and maintain “an appearance of godliness” in the Mandarin field. (2 Timothy 3:5) Rather, as language learners in the Mandarin field, our purpose in using material such as this Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material should be to learn to understand Mandarin speech and to learn to speak Mandarin understandably, so that we can reach the hearts of Mandarin-speaking people with Bible truth.

When we think of the Mandarin Chinese Was Life Created? brochure, we may naturally think first of the Chinese characters used to render the text of the official versions, since the characters are what we see. However, we have been trained to be spiritual persons who see the truth beyond just what is visible to the eyes. (2 Corinthians 5:7) For those of us who conduct Bible discussions using the Mandarin Chinese Was Life Created? brochure, the truth is that its most important aspect is actually the Mandarin speech that it shows us to use while discussing its contents with Mandarin-speaking interested persons, because how can they gain sufficient understanding and appreciation of what they read in the Was Life Created? brochure “unless someone guided [them]?”. (Acts 8:30, 31) And the vast majority of the time in the ministry, etc., we guide others to greater spiritual understanding through “the fruit of our lips”—speech.—Hebrews 13:15.

Yes, the scripturally sound modern linguistic (language science) principle that speech is primary and writing is secondary is especially true in our preaching and teaching work. This Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material accords with this important principle by focusing on Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) by default to represent the Mandarin speech represented by the Mandarin Chinese Was Life Created? brochure, in a way that’s simple, direct, and without distraction.

When you come across a Mandarin expression in this material that you need to learn or be reminded about, you can just tap/click on that expression’s Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) to reveal additional information about it. Thus, besides giving primary emphasis to speech, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material also provides the language-learning and memory-strengthening benefits of flashcards, which are used, for example, in the official JW Language app. Additionally, perhaps multiplicatively, this Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material integrates the benefits of flashcards into the context of the text of the Mandarin Chinese Was Life Created? brochure, in the style of augmented reality (AR).

Furthermore, to maximize the benefits of this integration of flashcards and context, the English translations in the “flashcards” have been carefully rendered to be context-appropriate. Thus, each Mandarin expression’s English translation doesn’t just tell you what that expression could mean in different contexts. Rather, it specifically tells you what that expression means in the particular context in which it appears. Building clear, correct understandings of contexts is especially important in Mandarin, since, probably because of over-reliance on characters, Mandarin has come to have many homophones requiring clarification by means of context. (More information on the translations can be found below.)

3-line material has served many of us well for many years, but the thinking behind its design was greatly influenced by the limitations of the static, inflexible medium of paper. Once a publication is printed on paper, it pretty much can only be what it appears to be—the information it displays is all the author-provided information it can display, the paper size and text size can only be what they are, etc.

In recent years, though, mobile computing devices have proliferated among Chinese field publishers. Additionally, natively digital file formats like the web and EPUB formats have become widely used and familiar. (In contrast, the PDF format at root seeks to emulate paper.) With their mobility, their dynamic, adaptable, interactive displays, the natively digital content they enable, etc., mobile devices open up possibilities for leaps of progress at least as great as the leap from the scroll to the codex (the paged, bound paper book), and the leap from copying by hand to the printing press.

In view of this changed environment, in which paper is no longer the primary medium which must be accommodated, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material has been designed to take advantage of the dynamic, flexible nature of the mobile computing device displays that are now so prevalent. Unlike static material designed for paper, with which what you see is all you get, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material is dynamic and interactive, so you can change it so that it shows you more or less information. When you load this web material for the first time, you are shown the “flashcards” of some of the more advanced expressions to give you a taste of the available information, but you can set this web material to thereafter by default display only Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) that’s been optimized for readability, so that it’s easy to use to follow along when the text is read aloud or discussed in Mandarin. When you want more information, you can easily call it up, and when you don’t need that additional information anymore, you can change the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material back so that it again just shows highly readable Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). Being natively digital, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material can also be easily digitally searched, copied, resized, recoloured, shared, etc.

Compared to corresponding 3-line (Chinese characters-Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)-English) material, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material by default is less visually complex, and it makes better use of limited display real estate on mobile devices. However, it still provides us Mandarin learners with assistance in the two language aspects we require in order to be able to discuss the Was Life Created? brochure with someone in Mandarin:

1. The pronunciations of the Mandarin words used
   - These show us how to communicate the Was Life Created? brochure’s message in Mandarin.
2. The meanings of the Mandarin words used
   - These show us what is being communicated in Mandarin.

Chinese characters are also included in the “flashcards” as a concession to their continuing pervasiveness in the Chinese world. Still, it must be kept in mind that while the Chinese characters may be the traditional writing system for Mandarin, they incur unusually and unnecessarily high costs in terms of the ongoing time, attention, and effort required to learn and remember them. With their overly, perhaps self-indulgently complex visual designs, they have become for many a bewitching but burdensome distraction, when, as shown above, our focus should really be on understanding Mandarin speech and speaking Mandarin understandably. (1 Corinthians 14:8–11) Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is a simple full writing system for Mandarin that can help us to focus on and successfully develop these primarily required abilities. (There is more information on this below.)

### Listening to Mandarin Audio While Using This Material 🔼

Near the top of most of the pages of this material, a link is provided for the official page for MP3 audio files for the Mandarin Chinese Was Life Created? brochure (🎧 > MP3). Listening to these audio files while following along in this Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material can help us to learn to understand and use the Mandarin speech represented by the text of the Mandarin Chinese Was Life Created? brochure.

From the official page mentioned above, MP3 audio files can be streamed, meaning that they can be played, paused, etc. using the controls on the page. To use this capability along with this Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material, you can use the following method which has been successfully tested on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, and which should also work on other modern mobile devices:

- Navigate to the page in this resource for the Was Life Created? brochure material for which you want to listen to Mandarin audio.
- On that page, use the supplied link to open the official audio files page in a new tab in your web browser. (In Safari on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, tap and hold on the link until a menu appears, then tap on Open in New Tab / Open in Background.)
- Switch to the new tab with the official audio files page, and start playing the audio for the desired material.
- Switch back to the browser tab that the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material is on and follow along while the Mandarin audio plays in the background.
- To pause the audio, etc., switch to the tab with the official audio files page and use the appropriate control there to do so.
  - On the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, another way to pause the audio, etc., is to use the Control Centre, which provides controls for the audio that’s currently playing. (For more information, see these Apple Support pages for the iPad and for the iPhone and the iPod touch.) An advantage of this method is that you can use the audio controls without leaving the app where the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material is.

Besides allowing for streaming, the official audio files page also allows for downloading the audio files. This allows them to be used offline (when there is no Internet connection) with the app used to store them. (On the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, apps like Documents and GoodReader can be used to store MP3 audio files, and to play them in the background while you follow along in this Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material.)

Each jw.org and Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY Mandarin web page with text of the Was Life Created? brochure also has a control for playing Mandarin audio for the text of this brochure that’s on that page. This control has the Play symbol, which looks like ▷ or ▶.

The JW Library app can also be used to play official Mandarin audio in the background while you follow along in this Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material. The exact procedure will depend on the version of the app you have. (On the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, the Control Centre’s audio controls can also be used, as mentioned above.)

Some platforms can read aloud the Chinese characters in Mandarin using a fairly good computer voice. (Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), however, may still be read out as if it were English, etc. Hopefully, computers will in the future be able to recognize Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) for what it is.) For example, recent versions of iPadOS (the operating system on the iPad) and of iOS (the operating system on the iPhone and the iPod touch) can do so using the Speak Selection feature (Apple’s setup instructions can be found here, under the heading “Choose a voice for Speak Screen and Speak Selection”). To have some Chinese characters read aloud in a supporting app on iOS 10 and above, tap and hold on them, adjust the text selection to indicate the character(s) you want read, then tap on Speak in the popup menu. (In some versions of iPadOS/iOS, with some characters you will also be presented with a menu for telling the computer whether to read them in 中文 (Mandarin) or 日本語 (Japanese). In other versions of iPadOS/iOS, the computer decides for itself which language to use in such situations, and sometimes it gets it wrong—you’ll be able to tell by comparing what the computer voice says with the corresponding Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). Remember that while computer-generated speech or writing may usually be better than nothing, computers still cannot handle languages as correctly or fluently as qualified humans can.)

### Advantages of the Web Format 🔼

This Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material is in web format. Web material has many advantages, including:

- Exceptionally broad hardware and software support
- Easy enlarging and automatic reflowing of the text to accommodate displays of various shapes and sizes, including those of many mobile devices
  - This is especially an advantage compared to the situation with PDF files, which have preset page sizes and line renderings baked in. As a result, PDF files are often cumbersome and difficult to read on smaller mobile devices.
- Familiarity and ease of use
  - Once this web material is loaded in a supporting web browser, no further downloading or switching to another app is required.
- Hyperlinking that is familiar and expected, and that thus will get used and benefited from
  - Taking advantage of this, scripture references in the main text contain links to the full text of the cited scriptures. There, links are provided for returning to the referring citations in the main text.
  - Links are also provided for “teleporting” from the table of contents to the chapter headings and back.
  - As well, links are provided as necessary for going to any footnotes, etc., and for returning from them to the main text.
- Interactivity
  - The web format supports the use of JavaScript code to build interactive features. The showing and hiding of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus “flashcards” in response to user taps/clicks is an example of such interactivity.
- Producibility and editability with simpler, more accessible, more mobile tools
  - At this time, Microsoft Word running on a desktop or laptop PC is needed to produce satisfactory 3-line PDF files. In contrast, this plain text-based Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material can be satisfactorily produced and edited with even an app running on a mobile device like an iPad.

### Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Is a Good, Workable Writing System on Its Own 🔼

Reading just Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) may take some getting used to if you’re accustomed to reading (or trying to read) Hànzì (Hàn·zì {Han (Chinese)} · Characters 汉字 漢字) (Chinese characters), but going by first principles of linguistics (the scientific study of language) rather than mere human traditions, it should be more than worth the effort. You should at least give yourself a chance to get used to it.

#### “Speech Is Primary, Writing Is Secondary” 🔼

Just like it’s an established fact that the earth is round, according to modern linguistics this is also an established fact: “Speech is primary, writing is secondary and is always derivative of speech.” Yes, speech is the foundation on which writing must be built, not vice versa. (That is just a natural result of the way Jehovah made us—he gave our bodies the built-in ability to produce speech, but writing requires external aids such as pens and paper, keyboards and screens, etc.) Thus, it is very good that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) represents Mandarin speech so straightforwardly and easily, and that it enables us to focus on speech. Yes, while Chinese characters, as beautiful and traditional as they are, demand distractingly large commitments of precious time and energy just for themselves, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) frees and empowers us to focus on communicating the good news.

Indeed, in our ministry specifically, we definitely need to understand speech and to speak understandably much more than we need to read and write. (1 Corinthians 14:8–11) So, while many who have received traditional Mandarin language instruction have been influenced to believe that being able to read and write characters is the ultimate goal for a Mandarin language student to aspire to, actually, for us Kingdom publishers, our ultimate goal regarding Mandarin should be being able to understand and speak spoken Mandarin, so that we can preach and teach the good news effectively, from our hearts, using Mandarin speech. So, really, for us Kingdom publishers, being able to read, understand, and write Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), which directly represents Mandarin speech, is a more relevant and important (and easy-to-achieve) goal to aspire to than being able to read, understand, and write characters, which unfortunately have become this thing on their own that is warping and obfuscating Mandarin speech rather than supporting it.

#### A Full Writing System for Mandarin Chinese? Really? 🔼

But, is Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) even really a writing system? Interestingly, the Chinese national standard Zhōngguó (Zhōng·guó Central · Nation → [Chinese] 中国 中國) Mángwén (Máng·wén Blind · Writing → [Braille] 盲文) (中国盲文/中國盲文, Chinese Braille) is basically a transliteration or conversion of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) into Braille letters. Braille is obviously a writing system, so Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) must also be a writing system (see p. 9), not just a pronunciation aid.

Also, as a Sumerian proverb stated, “a scribe whose hand matches the mouth, he is indeed a scribe”. Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) can indeed be used to write anything that can be spoken in Modern Standard Mandarin, from the simplest expressions to the most advanced, complex, and deeply meaningful expressions, so it qualifies as a full writing system in that fundamental sense as well—Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is indeed “a method of representing the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols”.

Really, after a bit of research into what the definition of a “writing system” is, it becomes evident that a system like Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) should naturally be considered a writing system, in spite of the efforts of worldly Chinese intellectuals to artificially and unjustly keep Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) down in order to protect and enshrine the traditional Hànzì (Hàn·zì {Han (Chinese)} · Characters 汉字 漢字) writing system that they have so much invested in.

Since Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is not just a pronunciation aid, but a full writing system, it is not “training wheels”—it’s regular wheels. On the other hand, Chinese characters are like non-round wheels—more difficult than necessary. While some may find non-round wheels “interesting”, or maybe even “beautiful”, much of the time we just need to get from point A to point B as quickly and easily as possible. We may even need to do so to save someone’s life. For example, what kind of wheels should be on an ambulance? That’s the kind of “wheels” we should be using in our life-saving work.

That Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is a full writing system for any and all Modern Standard Mandarin speech also means that, in addition to it being correct to say that “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is Chinese” because it was developed in China by Chinese people, it is also quite correct to say that “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is Chinese” in the sense that, even if it isn’t Hànzì (Hàn·zì {Han (Chinese)} · Characters 汉字 漢字), it is indeed written Mandarin Chinese—it’s not as if Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) was written English or French or something!

#### The Meaningfulness of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) 🔼

But, aren’t characters more meaningful than Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)? There are certainly meanings and stories behind how certain characters are written, but if we (erroneously) view characters as a bewitchingly complex, independent system for directly representing meanings visually, the characters can actually be for us a distraction or a diversion from the Mandarin words themselves, which are already a system for representing meanings through Mandarin speech sounds. Really, a Mandarin word still means what it means, no more and no less, whether it is spoken, written in characters, or written in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). Shakespeare said that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, and indeed, a rose would smell as sweet whether the spoken Mandarin word for it is written as “玫瑰” or as “méigui (méi·gui {fine jade} · {jade-like stone} → [rose] 玫瑰)”. Writing the word in characters does not add to its meaning, and writing it in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) does not take away from its meaning.

If someone says that they don’t get much meaning from reading Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), that’s not a sign that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is not meaningful. Rather, it’s perhaps a sign that this person has become accustomed to and perhaps dependent on ill-advisedly using characters to represent meaning visually, when they’re ultimately—like all writing systems—a system for representing speech sounds. It’s also probably a sign that this person’s understanding of Mandarin speech needs improving, because Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is a very simple and direct representation of Mandarin speech, such that if one understands Mandarin speech, one will understand Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), and vice versa. Furthermore, as a very simple and direct representation of Mandarin speech, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is thus just as meaningful as Mandarin speech is, and it would be downright unscriptural to say that Mandarin speech is without meaning!—1 Corinthians 14:10.

#### Mandarin-Sounding Mandarin, Quickly and Easily, Always 🔼

What about the claim by some English-speaking Mandarin-learners that using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) causes their Mandarin to sound like English? This can indeed happen if they let the Latin letters of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) make them think of English sounds instead of the Mandarin sounds that they actually represent. In such cases, the problem is not with the Latin alphabet letters used by Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音)—the Latin alphabet is used successfully to write many languages besides English, including French, Spanish, Vietnamese, etc., and it is just as capable of being used successfully to write Mandarin. As English-speaking Mandarin-learners get more familiar with the sounds of correct Mandarin speech, they can come to get used to correctly mentally connecting Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) to correct Mandarin sounds, rather than to English sounds. Then, they can regularly and reliably use Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) to help them speak Mandarin-sounding Mandarin, just like people regularly and reliably use written French to help them speak French-sounding French.

So, the key to speaking Mandarin-sounding Mandarin is to mentally get familiar with the sounds of correct Mandarin speech, e.g., by hearing the sounds of correct Mandarin speech a lot, by learning how to use the mouth, tongue, etc. to make Mandarin speech sounds correctly, and by practising making Mandarin speech sounds correctly. Turning to Chinese characters and avoiding the Latin letters of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is not the only or best way to go—if you are not familiar with the sounds of correct Mandarin speech, then your spoken Mandarin is still going to sound off, even if you stick with Chinese characters.

So, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is not necessarily less effective than the hard-to-learn-and-remember characters are at helping people to speak Mandarin-sounding Mandarin. In fact, once people mentally get familiar with the sounds of correct Mandarin speech and get used to connecting those sounds to the familiar Latin alphabet letters of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) then allows them to leverage or take advantage of their familiarity with the Latin alphabet, such that that familiarity enables them to more easily and more confidently speak Mandarin that is more precisely correct. E.g., with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), no more does anyone need to be uncertain about how in the world “增加” is pronounced, or about whether it starts with a “z” sound or a “zh” sound—the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) (“zēngjiā (zēng·jiā increasing · adding 增加)”) uses familiar Latin alphabet letters to literally spell out the correct Mandarin pronunciation so that it is clear and obvious!

Practically speaking, we should keep in mind that, as many in the Mandarin field have found, by investing the minimal amount of time and effort needed to learn and get used to the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) system, we will be equipped to always be able to quickly and easily read anything in Mandarin that’s written in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), and we will always be able to quickly and easily write anything in Mandarin using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). In contrast, even those who are fairly familiar with Chinese characters will at times come across unfamiliar or forgotten characters whose meanings and pronunciations they can only guess at. Also, even those who are fairly familiar with Chinese characters will at times be completely unable to remember or figure out how to write a certain character.

#### Respect, Tradition, Innovation, and Truth 🔼

But, does using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) mean that we are failing to show proper respect for Chinese culture? Since, as mentioned above, the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) system was developed in China by Chinese people, it is a product of Chinese culture, and it is a part of Chinese culture. So, using Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is not an imposition of Western culture—it is an application of Chinese culture! While Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) uses the Latin alphabet, it does so because the Chinese developers of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) of their own free will purposely chose to base it on this international alphabet (it’s not just the English alphabet) so that users of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) would benefit from its familiarity. This Chinese design decision has caused the international Latin alphabet to be adopted as part of Chinese culture. As Zhōu Ēnlái ((Zhōu {Circumference (surname)} 周 周/週) (Ēn·lái Kindness · Comes 恩来 恩來) (the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China)) (the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China) said, ‘When we adopt the Latin alphabet, in which we make necessary adjustments to suit the needs of the Chinese language, it becomes the phonetic alphabet of our language and is no longer the alphabet of ancient Latin, still less the alphabet of any foreign country.’

While those who love traditional Chinese culture may dislike such a radical innovation, it can be said that such innovations are actually a sign of positive, healthy cultural development. Another example of such a radical but positive and beneficial innovation was the West and China moving from always using Roman numerals and the Chinese characters for numbers to mostly using Arabic numerals. I’m sure just about everyone would agree that it’s a very good thing that we no longer have to deal with CMXXXVI÷III or 九百三十六÷三, because we can just work out 936÷3! Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) brings similar benefits as a writing system for Mandarin, while still being Chinese rather than Arabic, etc.

Anyway, the merely human cultures and traditions of this world that is passing away should not be the most important things to us Witnesses of Jehovah. (Mark 7:13; 1 John 2:17) The most important thing for us to consider is the truth about what really works best for our God-given work of sanctifying Jehovah’s name, preaching the good news of the Kingdom, and helping to save the lives of those who respond positively to that good news.—John 4:24; Matthew 6:9; 24:14; 1 Timothy 2:3, 4.

The truth is that, based on first principles of language science that help us to understand how Jehovah actually designed us humans to learn and use language, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is a good, workable writing system on its own for Modern Standard Mandarin. Not only that, but the experiences of many in the Mandarin field also provide living proof that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) works much more quickly, easily, and effectively than Chinese characters do for helping publishers who are learning Mandarin to become effective preachers and teachers in the Mandarin field.

For a more in-depth discussion about how we in the Mandarin field should view Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), see the article “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Was Plan A”. Here is a quote from it:

> “That there are so many different words in modern Mandarin that sound the same is not a good reason not to use Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), any more than it is a good reason not to speak Mandarin.”

### Translation 🔼

The English translations follow these principles:

- As far as is practical, the meaning of each individual Mandarin morpheme (smallest unit of language sound with meaning) is translated literally according to how it is used in the context in which it appears. (In Mandarin, morphemes usually correspond with syllables, but some syllables are sound-only (without meaning) and thus not morphemes, and some morphemes have more than one syllable.)
- Interpuncts (·) are used to separate sections of meaning.
  - E.g., in “láizì (lái·zì comes · from 来自 來自)”,
    - “lái” corresponds with “comes”, and
    - “zì” corresponds with “from”.
- If a set of English words corresponding to one or more Mandarin morphemes is surrounded by curly brackets (also called braces), i.e. { }, then that set of English words conveys the literal meaning of the Mandarin morpheme(s) it corresponds to. Curly brackets may also be used to indicate that whatever’s inside them should be treated together as a set.
- When a single English word (or a set of English words surrounded by curly brackets) corresponds to two or more Mandarin morphemes, that means that it conveys the literal meaning of each of those Mandarin morphemes.
  - E.g., in “bāngzhù (help 帮助 幫助)”, “help” is the literal meaning of “bāng”, and it is also the literal meaning of “zhù”.
- When literal translations may not be understandable enough on their own, effective meanings are shown, surrounded by square brackets, i.e. [ ].
  - E.g., with “yídìng (yí·dìng {(with) one} · {setting fixedly} → [definitely] 一定)”, it can be seen that the literal translations “{(with) one} · {setting fixedly}” lead to an effective meaning of “definitely”.
- An English word or a set of English words that is not part of the explicit meaning of its corresponding Mandarin morpheme(s), but rather is implied, is surrounded by parentheses, i.e. ( ). In the above example, the explicit meaning of “yí” is “one”, but in the context of “yídìng”, there is an implied “with” before “one”.
- When each Mandarin syllable in a set of Mandarin syllables was selected for its sound and not its meaning, such as when that set of Mandarin syllables represents a non-Mandarin name, the English word or set of English words that corresponds to that set of Mandarin syllables is not surrounded by square brackets. (In such cases, the sound of each of those Mandarin syllables practically is its literal meaning.)
  - E.g., each Mandarin syllable in “Yēhéhuá (Jehovah 耶和华 耶和華)” was selected for its sound, not its meaning. So, “Jehovah” is not surrounded by square brackets, but rather is presented directly as the literal meaning of “Yēhéhuá”.

It’s true that translating Mandarin morphemes literally can result in English translations that don’t follow familiar, traditional English usage patterns. However, the purpose of language-assistive material like this is not necessarily to move the hearts of English-speaking publishers through the use of their mother tongue—the ideal tools for that are the official English publications. Rather, the purpose of language-assistive material like this should be to help publishers to become familiar with Mandarin usage patterns, which of course can be different from English usage patterns. Becoming familiar with Mandarin usage patterns will help publishers to learn to understand and speak Mandarin better, so that they can ultimately better move the hearts of Mandarin-speaking householders through the use of their mother tongue. Those of you who are learning Mandarin to help in the Mandarin field are deeply appreciated, but ultimately, it’s not about you! 😄

Happily for language learners, compared to the design of traditional 3-line, etc. material, the design of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material, with its hideable “flashcards”, allows for much more room for additionally including effective meanings, surrounded by square brackets, i.e. [ ]. Thus, literal meanings that illuminate actual Mandarin usage patterns can much more often be accompanied by effective meanings that can be as long as necessary to clarify what the corresponding more-familiar English expressions are. Even long publication names can be handled this way, e.g.,

- Shèngjīng Xīn Shìjiè Yìběn ((Shèng·jīng (The) Holy · Scriptures 圣经 聖經) (Xīn New 新) (Shì·jiè {Generation → [World]} · Extent → [World] 世界) (Yì·běn Translated · {Root → [Edition]} 译本 譯本) → [New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures])

Showing both literal and effective meanings here does make for a long, complex “flashcard”, compared to the necessarily briefer text used in traditional 3-line, etc. material that is more space-constrained. However, with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material, all that information can be there when you need it, and when you don’t need it anymore, you can easily put it out of sight and out of mind by just tapping or clicking on it.

Yes, with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material, language learners can “have their cake and eat it too” with regard to both literal and effective meanings, without having to always wade through all the lines of 4-line material! 😱 And, as the literal and effective meanings work together to help diligent language learners get a better and better grip on actual Mandarin usage patterns, these language learners will as a result get better and better at actually understanding and speaking Mandarin, which will make everything they do in the Mandarin field easier and better—a little pain up front for a lot of potential gain, both for themselves and for the Mandarin-speaking interested ones they can help, for the entire time they serve in the Mandarin field.

### Abbreviations Used in the Translations

abbr. → abbreviation adj → adjective adv → adverb mw → measure word n → noun ptcl → particle pl → plural pref → prefix sb. → somebody sth. → something suf → suffix US → United States spelling v → verb

### Proofreading 🔼

Proofreading is generally the production step that requires the most time and intense mental effort. However, it is necessary in order to produce the sharpest possible tools for our spiritual harvesting work, the sharpest possible weapons for our spiritual warfare.–Ecclesiastes 10:10; 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5.

The regular portions of this Was Life Created? brochure material have been carefully translated, rendered, and proofread. Thus, those who are learning Mandarin can confidently rely on them to offer correct and insightful information on the pronunciations and meanings of Mandarin expressions, and on how these expressions are used in various contexts. Of course, the proofread portions of this material may still contain errors. If you find any, please email me to let me know.

Any unproofread or partially proofread material is rendered with a lower-contrast grey background. More proofreading of it may be done later as time allows.

Any proofread Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) material that has not fully had its “flashcards” added and proofread is rendered with a golden-hued background. More “flashcards” may be added and proofread later as time allows.

### Offline Viewing and Printing 🔼

#### Zip File

This web resource is divided into different files and folders. These files and folders have been “zipped” into the zip file linked to below, which can be saved or downloaded and unzipped for offline use:

> Was_Life_Created-Pinyin_Plus_2026-01-02.zip

On an iPad or an iPhone/iPod touch, apps like GoodReader and Documents can be used to view the unzipped files. (Documents is free to download; GoodReader will set you back about the price of a coffee shop drink before you can download it. However, unlike Documents, GoodReader uses the preferred font when displaying Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material.)

To download and unzip the zip file on an iPad or an iPhone/iPod touch using GoodReader:

- In Safari (or whatever other web browser you’re using to view this page), tap and hold on the zip file link above, and select Copy Link (or something similar, depending on your browser) from the menu that appears. This copies the link’s URL (web address).
- Open the GoodReader app.
  - If you have a document open in Reading mode, tap anywhere on the screen to make the controls visible, then tap on the X button at the top left corner to exit Reading mode.
  - Tap on Connect (bottom toolbar).
  - Tap on Enter URL. In the dialogue box that appears, tap on Allow Paste. The URL (web address) you just copied from your web browser should then be automatically entered into the next dialogue box that appears. (If not, paste it there now.) Tap the Download button.
  - The file should get downloaded and listed on the Downloads tab. Tap on its icon or filename there to be taken to the My Documents > Downloads folder, where the file got downloaded to. You should probably move the zip file to another folder of your choosing. To do so,
    - tap on Manage Files (bottom toolbar),
    - tap the file to select it,
    - tap the Move button (bottom toolbar),
    - then navigate to your target folder and
    - tap the Move 1 item here button or the Move here and open folder button.
    - If necessary, tap the Done button (bottom toolbar) to return to the normal mode.
  - In the folder that you moved the zip file to, tap on the zip file, then tap the Unzip button in the dialogue box that appears. The files and folders inside the zip file will be extracted and placed into a folder with the same name as the zip file.
  - Tap on the folder with the extracted files and folders to enter it, then tap the index.html file to open it in GoodReader.

To download and unzip the zip file on an iPad or an iPhone/iPod touch using Documents:

- In Safari, tap on the zip file link above, then tap on Download in the dialogue box that appears.
- Open the Files app, and navigate to the Downloads folder (iCloud Drive > Downloads). The zip file should be there after it finishes downloading.
- Tap and hold on the zip file. On the menu that appears, tap on Share.
- On the share sheet that appears, tap on Save to Documents.
- In the dialogue box that appears, tap on Show in Folder. You should probably move the zip file out of the Inbox and into another folder of your choosing. To do so,
  - tap on the … button on the far right of the file’s row,
  - tap on Move to on the menu that appears,
  - then select your desired destination folder in the dialogue box that appears and tap on the Move button at the top right.
- Navigate to the folder that you moved the zip file to, then tap on the zip file. The files and folders inside the zip file will be extracted and placed into a folder with the same name as the zip file.
- In the folder with the extracted files and folders, tap the index (HTML) file to open it in Documents.

On Android devices, file managing and viewing apps similar to GoodReader and Documents are available, and should work similarly.

To download and unzip the zip file on a PC or a Mac:

- Right-click on the zip file link above and select Save Link As..., or Save Target As..., or Download Linked File As..., or something similar depending on your browser.
- In the resulting dialogue box, select a folder to save the file to, and click the Save button or something similar to proceed with the download.
- Modern PCs and Macs generally come with software for unzipping zip files. So, to unzip the downloaded zip file, you generally just need to double-click on it.
  - Note: On some Windows computers, double-clicking on a zip file lets you view its contents while leaving them inside the zip file. In such cases, a separate step would be required to actually extract the contents of the zip file.
- From among the files and folders extracted from the zip file, double-click the index.html file to open it in your default web browser.

#### Progressive Web App Offline Support

The following method may also work, depending on the software environment of your computing device:

1. While online (connected to the Internet), use a web browser that supports service workers to go to this web resource’s main index page on the web.
   - Your supporting web browser will then automatically set up offline capability for this web resource. Part of that setup involves automatically saving this web resource’s files to a cache on your viewing device. (Info on different browsers’ storage limits can be found here. Updated info on Safari’s storage limits can be found here.) After that, your supporting web browser will be able to load this web resource from its cache, even when your viewing device is offline.
   - If, when loading this web resource’s main index page, your browser presents a dialogue box asking whether to allow data to be stored in persistent storage, tap/click on the button to allow this. (This will make it more likely that the browser presenting the dialogue box will be able to load this web resource when you want to use it offline in the future.)
2. At a later time, if you just go to this web resource as usual in the above-mentioned supporting web browser (perhaps using a bookmark, or an icon added/installed to the Home Screen (Apple Support: iPhone, iPad) (Google Chrome Help: Android, Install a PWA)), this web resource should load and work as usual, whether or not your viewing device is connected to the Internet.
   - Note: A URL (web address) that starts with `https` must be used to load part of this web resource offline. Also, in older versions of the Safari browser, a URL ending with `/index.html` must be used to load the main index page offline. Edit any related bookmark as necessary.
   - Note: Since storage space is still often constrained on mobile devices, and also to support its Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) technology, the Safari browser on iOS/iPadOS (used on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch) will remove this web resource’s cached files if they remain unused for some time, perhaps after about 30 days of Safari use. Websites that have been added to the Home Screen through Safari on iOS/iPadOS (as mentioned above) and used as Home Screen Web Apps are more likely to be allowed to put their data storage in persistent mode, which would result in the data of those websites being more likely to be exempt from being removed.
     - So, to be confident of being able to use Safari on an Apple mobile device to access this web resource offline at a particular time, make sure beforehand to load or reload this web resource in that browser, and then, if you have not already done so, add this site to the Home Screen. (Apple Support instructions: iPhone, iPad)
     - To afterwards test your ability to use this web resource offline:
       - While online, tap the Home Screen icon for this site to load it.
       - Reload this site ( button or ⌘R on a connected hardware keyboard) to make sure the current version gets loaded.
       - Close the resulting tab/window.
       - Put your device into Airplane Mode to take it offline.
         - If you wish, try going to a website that you know cannot be accessed while offline, to confirm that your device is indeed offline. (E.g., at this time, 3lines.org is such a website.)
       - Tap again on the Home Screen icon for this site to see if it will load now that your device is offline.
3. There is no Step 3!

Of course, while your device is offline, your supporting web browser will not receive any new or updated material for this web resource if that new or updated material gets uploaded to the web server after your supporting web browser last saved this web resource’s files to its cache. However, when your device is back online, loading part of this web resource in your supporting web browser will automatically cause your supporting web browser and its cache to be updated with any new or updated material on the web server for this web resource. (You may need to reload twice, or to first switch to a new tab or restart your web browser.)

#### Paper Printouts

Additionally, while this Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource was primarily designed to be used on computing devices like smartphones and tablets, its content can also be printed out from your web browser. Of course, nothing will happen if you tap on the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expressions on paper printouts. However, when one of this resource’s web pages is loaded in your web browser, whatever text you can see on your display—including any visible “flashcard” text—will get printed out when you print out that web page. (Note, though, that so far in my testing the printed-out text is all the same colour.) So, if you want your printouts of a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web page to include the information in all of its “flashcards”, then select 📖 Reveal All from the drop-down list near the top of that page before printing it.

For reading out, quick scanning, etc., you may also want printouts of this material with just the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) text. If so, then print the material when its “flashcards” are all hidden. This is the case on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web page right after you select 📘 Reveal None from the drop-down list near the top of that page.

To include page numbers on the printouts, be sure to select the corresponding option in your web browser’s print settings. (It may be related to printing headers and footers.)

### Disclaimer 🔼

This is not a publication of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, and if an official version of the Was Life Created? brochure is available, this material should be used along with it, not instead of it. This material is primarily intended to help publishers working in the Mandarin field, so that they can more quickly become more effective at preaching and teaching the good news to Mandarin-speaking people without being unnecessarily obstructed and delayed by the complex and difficult-to-learn-and-remember Chinese characters. (Also, see the Disclaimer on the title page.)

IMPORTANT: Please do not use this material as an excuse or as a crutch to just “get by” or “muddle through” at Mandarin meetings or Bible discussions. By all means, make good use of this material in such settings, but most importantly, use this material to help you really improve your knowledge and understanding of the Mandarin language, so that you can 1) listen to it with more understanding and 2) speak it more effectively from your heart while praising Jehovah and preaching and teaching the good news in the Mandarin field.

### Analytics and Privacy 🔼

This resource uses TelemetryDeck to collect anonymized usage data. This helps show how users are using this resource and how it can be improved. TelemetryDeck does not collect any personally identifiable information. For more information, check out TelemetryDeck’s privacy policy.

### Updates and Other Information 🔼

Check the Links News blog (news feed, Twitter) for news regarding updates to this resource, and also for news regarding other resources prepared by our fellow workers in the Chinese fields. You may also find it interesting to check out the tiandi.info blog (news feed, Twitter), which is about various things related to the Chinese fields. (If you need login information for the parts of tiandi.info that require it, request it by email, and include information on who referred you and/or what group/cong. you are in.)

To follow the Twitter account for the Links News and tiandi.info blogs, click or tap this button:

Follow @TiandiLinksNews

If you have any questions or comments, email them to me. I am often very busy, but I will try my best to answer your emails.

Enjoy using the material. May it help you to serve more effectively and joyfully in the Mandarin field.